Mineral feed supplement

ABSTRACT

A mineral supplement is described herein that has a high mineral/nitrogen content and is capable of being formed as a pellet. The mineral supplement may comprise a hydrophobic component that includes a lubricant and a high melting point substance which may facilitate forming the mineral supplement as a pellet.

BACKGROUND

Proper nutrition is a key element to overall animal health and toincreasing the overall productivity of the animals. This is especiallytrue for farm animals such as cattle (beef cattle, dairy cattle, etc.),swine, sheep, and the like. An important element of a nutritionallybalanced diet are minerals and other components such as a suitablenitrogen source. Although some minerals may be inherently included insome of the components of bulk feed (e.g., alfalfa, grain material,etc.), it is often desirable to supplement the naturally occurringminerals in the bulk feed to provide optimum animal performance andhealth.

In the past, the mineral and/or nitrogen content of animal feed has beensupplemented by adding minerals to the animal feed at the time offeeding. This was traditionally done by spreading the minerals over thetop of the animal feed in the feeding area. The minerals were often muchsmaller than the bulk feed and thus tended to migrate to the bottom ofthe feeder before the animal could eat it. Also, the animals often tendto eat the feed in a way that scatters the minerals around the area,which further reduces the amount of minerals the animals intake. Becauseof these and other factors, the amount of minerals that the animalreceived varied widely from one feeding to the next. The health and/orperformance of the animals suffered as a result.

One way to make the mineral supplement more suitable for the animal toeat is to pellet the mineral supplement. Unfortunately, a mineral pelletis difficult to produce using conventional pelleting equipment because,during pelleting, the minerals tend to score the surface of the die andmay even plug the die. This is especially true for mineral pelletshaving a high mineral content.

A mineral supplement is described herein which includes a hydrophobichigh melting point component which may reduce some of the problemsassociated with forming pelleted mineral supplements. Unlike previoussupplements, the addition of the hydrophobic high melting pointcomponent and/or the conditions of the pelleting process allow themineral supplement described herein to have a high concentration of aningredient component, which includes minerals and urea, while stillbeing capable of being processed in a conventional pellet mill.

Providing a high concentration of the ingredient component is desirablefrom a number of standpoints. For instance, because the mineralsupplement has a high concentration of the ingredient component, lessmineral supplement needs to pass through the pellet mill to provide thesame nutritional value as a given amount of some prior mineralsupplements. Thus, the processing of the mineral supplement is made moreefficient. In addition, mineral supplements with higher mineralconcentrations can be transported and sold in bulk while reducingcapacity requirements of storage facilities and shipping containers.

SUMMARY

A mineral supplement is described herein which includes an ingredientcomponent and a hydrophobic component. The term “ingredient component”as used herein refers to the mineral source(s) and the non-proteinnitrogen source(s), if any, that is in the mineral supplement.Advantageously, the mineral supplement described herein includes anelevated amount of the ingredient component. Also, the hydrophobiccomponent may include a combination of components or may be a singlecomponent. For example, in one embodiment, the hydrophobic component mayinclude a combination of a high melting hydrophobic substance andanother hydrophobic substance or component having a lower melting point.The hydrophobic component commonly has a melting point of at least about45° C., desirably, at least about 50° C., or, suitably, at least about55° C. The mineral supplement may also optionally include a binder,filler, vitamins, medicaments, enzymes, and dyes. In one embodiment, themineral supplement may include at least about 50 wt. % of the ingredientcomponent. In another embodiment, the mineral supplement may include atleast about 1 wt. % or suitably at least about 2 wt. % of thehydrophobic component.

The mineral supplement may be combined with bulk feed to produce amineral supplemented animal feed. Typically, the mineral supplement isincluded in the animal feed as a pellet. In one embodiment, the mineralsupplement may be substantially free of any animal byproducts (e.g.,animal tallow, etc.).

The mineral supplement may be made using any of a number of conventionalprocesses and equipment such as pelletizers and the like. It should beappreciated that the term pellet may refer to a product made using apellet mill or the like. In one embodiment, the mineral supplement is apellet. It should be understood that use of the term “pellet” is notmeant to imply or require that any particular process be used to preparethe mineral supplement. Rather, “pellet” is intended to refer to thefinal solid conglomerated form of the mineral supplement. In oneembodiment, the starting materials may be combined together to form asupplement blend. The supplemental blend is passed through aconventional pellet mill to form pelletized mineral supplements. In oneembodiment, the mineral supplement may be made without conditioning thesupplement blend by, inter alia, heating, exposing to steam, and thelike. In another embodiment, the supplement blend may be conditionedand/or water may be added. Commonly, however, the pellets are formedwithout exposing the feed mix introduced into the pellet mill to anysource of additional water (e.g., process steam).

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The mineral supplements described herein are useful as a supplement infeed applications such as animal feed. The mineral supplement mayinclude an ingredient component and a hydrophobic component that mayhave a high melting point.

In one embodiment, the mineral supplement may include an elevated amountof the ingredient component. The amount of the ingredient component inthe mineral supplement may vary widely. For example, depending on theembodiment, the mineral supplement may include at least about 50 wt. %,desirably at least about 65 wt. %, suitably at least about 70 wt. %,further at least about 75 wt. %, or yet even further at least about 80wt. %, at least about 85 wt. %, at least about 90 wt. %, or at leastabout 95 wt. % of the ingredient component. In many situations, it isdesirable to maximize the amount of the ingredient component in themineral supplement.

As mentioned previously, the ingredient component of the mineralsupplement refers to the mineral source(s) and non-protein nitrogensource(s), if any, that is in the mineral supplement. Some of theelemental minerals/mineral compounds that may be provided in theingredient component are shown in Table 1. Table 1 shows the range thatvarious elemental minerals and/or mineral compounds may commonly bepresent in the mineral supplement. It should be understood that theranges are listed as elemental minerals and/or mineral compounds, andthe actual amount of the mineral source for the elemental mineralsand/or mineral compounds varies depending on the desired concentrationof the elemental mineral and/or mineral compound in the supplement andthe particular mineral source(s) employed to produce the supplement.Also, the amounts shown in Table 1 represent those amounts of theelemental mineral and/or mineral compound that would be present in themineral supplement. Thus, the amount of the mineral source used toprovide the amount of elemental mineral and/or mineral compound mayactually be higher. While a particular mineral supplement commonlyincludes more than one of the elemental minerals and/or mineral compoundlisted in Table 1, it need not and routinely does not include all of themineral nutrients (elemental mineral and mineral compound) listed in thetable. TABLE 1 Elemental Mineral/Mineral Compound Amount Calcium 0.5% to30% Phosphorous 0.3% to 16% Salt (Sodium Chloride) 0.2 to 20% Potassium0.1 to 7.5% Magnesium 0.1 to 7.5% Zinc 200 to 25,000 mg/lb Iron 200 to25,000 mg/lb Copper 30 to 85,000 mg/lb Cobalt 2 to 400 mg/lb Iodine 5 to1500 mg/lb Manganese 200 to 25,000 mg/lb Selenium 1 to 400 ppm

As shown in Table 1, the ingredient component may include sources ofmajor minerals such as calcium, phosphorous, salt, potassium, andmagnesium as well as sources for trace minerals such Zinc, Iron, Copper,Cobalt, Iodine, Manganese, Molybdenum, and Selenium. In one embodiment,the mineral supplement may include no more than about 5 wt. % of traceminerals. It should be understood, that an individual mineral source mayserve as a source for one or more elemental minerals and/or mineralcompounds listed in Table 1.

The elemental minerals and/or mineral compounds may be provided usingany of a number of mineral sources. In general, any GRAS (generallyrecognized as safe) mineral source may be used which provides abioavailable mineral. Table 2 shows some examples of suitable mineralsources. TABLE 2 GRAS Mineral Sources Calcium Carbonate Reduced IronCalcium Chloride Magnesium Carbonate Calcium Gluconate Magnesium OxideCalcium Hydroxide Magnesium Sulfate Calcium Iodate Manganese AcetateCalcium Iodobehenate Manganese Carbonate Calcium Oxide ManganeseChloride Calcium Sulfate (anhydrous or dihydrate) Manganese Citrate(soluble) Cobalt Acetate Manganese Gluconate Cobalt Carbonate ManganeseOrthophosphate Cobalt Chloride Manganese Oxide Cobalt Oxide ManganesePhosphate (dibasic) Cobalt Sulfate Manganese Sulfate Copper CarbonateMonocalcium Phosphate Copper Chloride Monosodium Phosphate CopperGluconate Potassium Bicarbonate Copper Hydroxide Potassium CarbonateCopper Orthophosphate Potassium Chloride Copper Oxide Potassium IodateCopper Pyrophosphate Potassium Iodide Copper Sulfate Potassium SulfateCuprous Iodide Sodium Chloride Dicalcium Phosphate Sodium BicarbonateDiiodosalicylic Acid Sodium Iodate Disodium Phosphate Sodium IodideEthylenediamine Dihydroiodide Sodium Sulfate Ferrous Fumarate SodiumTripolyphosphate Iron Ammonium Citrate Sulfur Iron Carbonate ThymolIodide Iron Chloride Tricalcium Phosphate Iron Gluconate Zinc AcetateIron Oxide Zinc Carbonate Iron Phosphate Zinc Chloride IronPyrophosphate Zinc Oxide Iron Sulfate Zinc Sulfate

In one embodiment, the ingredient component may include a calcium sourceand salt (i.e., sodium chloride). In another embodiment, the ingredientcomponent includes a source of at least one of a calcium source, asodium salt, a potassium salt, a phosphate source, a sulfur source, or amagnesium source. It should be appreciated that in other embodiments,the ingredient component may include any combination of the mineralsources shown above with any combination of non-protein nitrogen sourcesdescribed herein.

The composition of the ingredient component may be varied in a number ofways. For example, in one embodiment, the ingredient component mayinclude one or more mineral sources without a non-protein nitrogensource. In another embodiment, the ingredient component may include nomore than about 50 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source, desirably no morethan about 40 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source, or suitably no morethan about 35 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source. In another embodiment,the ingredient component includes about 5 to about 50 wt. % non-proteinnitrogen source, about 10 to about 45 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source,desirably about 20 to about 40 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source, orsuitably about 25 to about 35 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source. Thus,the ingredient component may include at least about 50 wt. % ordesirably at least about 60 wt. % of the mineral source.

The composition of the mineral supplement may likewise vary based on thecomposition of the ingredient component. In one embodiment, the mineralsupplement includes about 25 to 85 wt. %, 30 to 80 wt. %, desirablyabout 40 to 75 wt. %, or suitably about 50 to 65 wt. % of the mineralsource and about 2 to about 55 wt. %, desirably about 5 to 50 wt. %, orsuitably about 15 to 40 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source. In anotherembodiment, the mineral supplement may include no less than about 1 wt.% non-protein nitrogen source, or desirably no less than about 2 wt. %non-protein nitrogen source.

A non-protein nitrogen source may be included in the mineral supplement.In addition to excluding protein based nitrogen sources, the term“non-protein nitrogen source,” as used herein, is also meant to excludeamino acid based nitrogen sources. The non-protein nitrogen source mayinclude organic nitrogen sources and/or inorganic nitrogen sources. Forexample, organic nitrogen sources may include urea, uric acid, and/orbiuret. Inorganic nitrogen sources may include ammonium salts (e.g.,ammonium sulfate, ammonium chloride, ammonium polyphosphate, diammoniumphosphate, monoammonium phosphate, etc.) The urea may be obtained fromany of a number of suitable sources and in any of a number of suitableforms. For example, the urea may be microprilled or rolled urea.

The amount of the non-protein nitrogen source in the mineral supplementmay vary widely. For example, in one embodiment, the mineral pellet maycomprise at least about 1 wt. %, desirably, at least about 2 wt. %, orsuitably at least about 5 wt. % non-protein nitrogen source. In anotherembodiment, the mineral supplement may include between about 0 to 40 wt.%, desirably 1 to 30 wt. %, or suitably 3 to 20 wt. % non-proteinnitrogen source.

The hydrophobic component may be any of a number of suitable materials.The hydrophobic component may be a blend of materials or may be a singlematerial such as a fully hydrogenated oil (e.g., soybean, etc.).Although not wishing to be bound by theory, it is believed that thehydrophobic component acts to lubricate and/or absorb heat (heat sink)in the pelleting process and may also aid in binding the mineralsupplement together after it is cooled to ambient temperature. In oneembodiment the hydrophobic component may have a melting point of atleast about 50° C., desirably at least about 55° C., or suitably atleast about 60° C. In some instances, the hydrophobic component may havea melting point of at least about 65° C.

The hydrophobic component may include any of a number of suitablematerials. For example, the hydrophobic component may include saturatedfatty acids having 12-22 carbon atoms, zinc fatty acid salts, magnesiumfatty acid salts, fully hydrogenated soybean oil, fully hydrogenatedvegetable oil, animal fat, vegetable fat, vegetable wax, animal tallow,and mixtures thereof.

In one embodiment, the hydrophobic component includes a high meltinghydrophobic substance (HMHPS) and a second substance such as a lubricantwhich has a lower melting point. For example, the HMHPS may have amelting point that is at least about 55° C., 60° C. or desirably atleast about 65° C. and the second substance may have a melting pointthat is no more than about 55° C. or desirably no more than about 50° C.The HMHPS may be any of a number of suitable materials such ashydrogenated vegetable oil (fully or hydrogenated to provided desiredmelting point), saturated fatty acids and their salts, etc.

The mineral supplement may include at least about 1 wt. %, at leastabout 1.5 wt. %, at least about 2 wt. %, or at least about 2.5 wt. % ofthe hydrophobic component. In another embodiment, the mineral supplementmay include about 1 wt. % to 10 wt. %, 1.5 wt. % to 8 wt. %, 2 wt. % to5 wt. % of the hydrophobic component. The mineral supplement may alsoinclude at least about 0.5 wt. %, at least about 1 wt. %, at least about1.5 wt. %, or at least about 2 wt. % of the HMHPS. In anotherembodiment, the mineral supplement may include about 0.5 to 6 wt. %,about 1 to 4 wt. %, or about 2 to 3 wt. % of the HMHPS. The ratio ofHMHPS to lubricant in the hydrophobic component may be anywhere from10:1 to 1:4.

In addition to the hydrophobic component and optional non-proteinnitrogen source, in many embodiments the mineral supplement may includeanother component which melts and/or dehydrates at a temperature in therange of about 50° C. to 200° C. Suitable examples include sugars, suchas sucrose and the like, and hydrated forms of sodium salts of organicacids. For example, sodium acetate trihydrate melts at 58° C. andbecomes anhydrous when heated to about 120° C. Such components, whenincluded in the supplement blend can serve to absorb the heat which maybe generated from friction as the supplement blend passes through thepelletizer. It is believed as a result of the heat required to meltand/or dehydrate such a component the overall temperature rise in thesupplement blend is lessened.

A filler may also be included in the mineral supplement. The amount offiller in the mineral supplement may vary widely. However, because it isdesirable to increase the amount of the ingredient component, it isgenerally desirable to minimize the amount of filler in the mineralsupplement. The filler may be any edible GRAS material. Suitable fillersinclude: corn gluten feed, sunflower hulls, distillers grains, guarhulls, wheat middlings, rice hulls, rice bran, oilseed meals (e.g.,cottonseed, soybean, sunflower, linseed, peanut, rapeseed, canola,etc.), dried blood meal, animal by-product meal, fish by-product, fishmeal, dried fish solubles, feather meal, poultry by-products, meat meal,bone meal, dried whey, soy protein concentrate, soy flour, yeast, wheat,oats, grain sorghums, corn feed meal, rye, corn, barley, aspirated grainfractions, brewers dried grains, corn flour, corn gluten meal, feedingoat meal, sorghum grain flour, wheat mill run, wheat red dog, hominyfeed, wheat flour, wheat bran, wheat germ meal, oat groats, ryemiddlings, cotyledon fiber, ground grains (e.g., wheat, corn, milo,etc.), or mixtures thereof. Numerous additional fillers may also beused.

The amount of filler in the mineral supplement depends on the amount ofthe ingredient component and the hydrophobic component. In oneembodiment, the mineral supplement includes no more than about 20 wt. %,desirably no more than about 15 wt. %, suitably no more than about 10wt. %, or still further no more than about 8 wt. % of the filler.

A binder may also be used to facilitate increased pellet quality.Suitable binders may include bentonite, lignin sulfonate, sodiumsilicate and various gums, attapulgite clay, calcium aluminates, driedor wet molasses, or mixtures thereof. The mineral supplement may alsoinclude a binder such as those commonly used in pelleting and/orextrusion processes. Also, the mineral supplement may include vitaminssuch as Vitamin A, D-3, E, K, and B-12, niacin, riboflavin, pantothenicacid, biotin, folic acid, thiamine, pyridoxine, choline, amino acids,enzymes, and dyes. In one embodiment, the mineral supplement includes nomore than about 4 wt. % binder, 3 wt. % binder, or desirably no morethan about 1 wt. % binder. In another embodiment, the mineral supplementmay include between about 1 wt. % to 4 wt. % or, 1.5 wt. % to 3 wt. %binder.

A method for making the mineral supplement is described. The ingredientcomponent and the hydrophobic component may be combined together to forma supplemental blend. The supplement blend may be a variety of dryand/or wet materials used to make the mineral component. The supplementblend may be further processed to form the mineral supplement by forcingthe supplemental blend through an orifice and dividing it into pellets.This may be done, for example, by either an extrusion process or apelletizing process. The mineral supplement may then be cooled and/ordried.

The HMHPS may be combined with the supplemental blend as a solid whilethe lubricant may be combined with the supplemental blend as a liquid.In other embodiments, both the HMHPS and the lubricant may be providedin liquid form to the supplemental blend. As the supplemental blendpasses through the pelletizer, it is believed that the HMHPS absorbssome of the heat from the process as it melts, softens, or is otherwiseheated. Also, non-protein nitrogen sources such as urea and othermaterials having a melting point that is no more than about 200° C.,desirably no more than about 160° C., or suitably no more than about140° C. may also absorb significant amounts of the heat generated by theprocess. Table 3 shows some examples of HMHPSs along with their meltingpoints and the melting point of some combinations of an HMHPS and animaltallow (at a 3/2 wt. ratio). It should be understood that the stearicacid referred to in Table 3 is commercial grade stearic acid as opposedto pure stearic acid. Commercial grade stearic acid may includesignificant amounts of other fatty acids (e.g., palmitic acid). Forexample, commercial grade stearic acid may include about 50 to about 60wt. % stearic acid, 25 to about 35 wt. % palmitic acid, and about 10 toabout 15 wt. % other fatty acids. Other embodiments of commercialstearic acid may include other varying amounts of fatty acids.References to stearic acid herein should be understood to refer tocommercial grade stearic acid unless noted otherwise. TABLE 3 MeltingMelting Point (° C.) of 3/2 Wt. Point Ratio of Animal Tallow to HMHPS (°C.) First Component Animal Tallow (Reference 46 — material) Stearic Acid68 62 Vegetable Wax 66 63 Stable Flake (hydrogenated 67 57 vegetableoil) Zinc Stearate 121 74 Fully Hydrogenated Circa 65 Soybean Oil

The size of the pellet may be varied to suit the particular situation.Typically, the size of mineral supplement pellet is sufficient to allowit to be added and mixed with animal feed. In one embodiment, theaverage weight of the pellets may be about 250 mg to about 500 mg ordesirably 325 mg to about 425 mg. The diameter of the pellet may bebetween about 1 mm and about 20 mm, desirably between about 2 mm and 8mm, or suitably between about 3 mm and 6 mm. The pellets may be anysuitable length but suitably may have a roughly cylindrical shape with alength that is about 1 to 5 times the cylinder diameter. The density ofthe pellet may be between 35 to 55 lb/ft³ or 40 to 50 lb/ft³.

The mineral supplement pellet may be combined with an animal feed. Inone embodiment, the animal feed may comprise between about 0.5 wt. % toabout 5 wt. % or desirably about 1.5 to about 3 wt. % of the mineralsupplement. In one embodiment, the animal feed may be subjected toadditional processing (e.g., cubing of the animal feed, etc.).

In one embodiment, the mineral supplement may be prepared by feeding thesupplement blend through a conventional pelleting mill without exposingthe supplement blend to steam or otherwise conditioning (e.g., heating,etc.) the supplement blend. Although not wishing to be bound by theory,it is believed that the addition of the steam may cause the materialsincluded in the mineral supplement to interact with each other in amanner that may impede the supplement blend from passing through thepellet mill. Of course, whether the materials interact adversely dependson the particular materials being used. Thus, in other embodiments,steam and/or other conditioning measures may be performed on thesupplement blend. In another embodiment, the supplement blend may becombined with water and other liquids such as liquid nutrient additives(e.g., vitamins, enzymes included in a liquid carrier, etc.). Theliquids may be combined with the supplement blend at ambienttemperature.

The pelletized mineral supplement desirably has a pellet durabilityindex (PDI) of at least about 50% and, desirably at least about 60%. Insome instances, it may be desirable to provide a PDI of at least about75%, 85%, or 90%. The PDI may be determined using the procedure referredto in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2003/170,371, entitled “HighFat/Fiber Composition,” filed on Dec. 3, 2002, at paragraphs 18-24 andTable 1, the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein byreference.

Alternatively, the pelletized mineral supplement may have a pellethardness index (PHI) of at least about 100 g/mm, desirably at leastabout 150 g/mm, suitably at least about 200 g/mm, and further at leastabout 300 g/mm. The PHI may be determined using five good pellets from asample of the pellets that are made. The five pellets should representthe sample, so typically 2 longs pellets, 2 medium sized pellets, and 1small pellet are chosen as part of the sample. A force gauge (e.g., 2 kgforce gauge) is used to determine the force required break the pellet.The length of each pellet is measured. The pellet is positionedlengthwise in the force gauge so that the pellet is lying horizontally.Thus, the force gauge contacts the longitudinal side of the pellet.Force is applied to the pellet to determine the force necessary to breakthe pellet. The PHI is the average amount of force per unit of length ofthe pellets that is required to break the pellets.

Alternatively, the fines content produced in pelleting the mineralsupplement may be no more than about 20%, desirably no more than about15%, suitably no more than about 10%, or further no more than about 5%.The fines content may be determined by removing samples from the dieand/or cooler of the pellet mill. The samples are sieved using theappropriate sieve as determined using Table 1 from U.S. Published PatentApplication No. 2003/170,371, referenced above. The percent of thematerial that passes through the sieve is the fines content of thesample.

EXAMPLE 1

Various samples of a mineral supplement were prepared according to thefollowing procedures. The composition of samples A-S is shown in Table4. The composition of the ingredient component employed to produce eachof these mineral supplements is shown in Table 5. The mineral premixincludes trace minerals in small amounts. The MagOx-54 is largelymagnesium oxide (90-96 wt. %) that contains 54 wt. % elemental Mg. Also,it should be noted that the Mix 1 referred to in samples F and J inTable 4 is 75 wt. % palm stearin, 24.5 wt. % stearic acid, and 0.5 wt. %lecithin. TABLE 4 Ingredient Component Hydrophobic Component Sample FromTable 5 HMHPS Second Component Filler A 88 2% Stearic Acid 3% AnimalTallow 7% Wheat Midds B 85 2% Stearic Acid 6% Animal Tallow 7% WheatMidds C 88 2% Stearic Acid 3% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds D 85 2%Stearic Acid 6% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds E 91 2% Stearic Acid 0 7%Wheat Midds F 88 2% Mix 1 3% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds G 88 2% Fully3% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds Hydrogenated Soybean Oil H 88 2%Vegetable Wax 3% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds I 88 2% Zinc Stearate 3%Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds J 85 2% Mix 1 6% Animal Tallow 7% WheatMidds K 85 2% Fully 6% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds Hydrogenated SoybeanOil L 85 2% Vegetable Wax 6% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds M 85 2% ZincStearate 6% Animal Tallow 7% Wheat Midds N 85 2% Stearic Acid 3% AnimalTallow 7% Wheat Midds O 88 2% Stearic Acid 6% Animal Tallow 7% WheatMidds P 88 2% Stearic Acid 3% Animal Tallow 7% Dried Distillers Grains Q88 2% Stearic Acid 3% Animal Tallow 7% Soy Hulls R 85 2% Stearic Acid 6%Animal Tallow 7% Dried Distillers Grains S 85 2% Stearic Acid 6% AnimalTallow 7% Soy Hulls

For each sample, 50 lbs of a supplement blend was prepared. Samples A-B,F-M, and P-S were prepared by placing the ingredient component, theHMHPS, and the filler into a mixer. Each of these materials was placedin the mixture at ambient temperature and in a solid state. The mixturewas mixed using a conventional Hobart® mixer until the materials wereuniformly dispersed. Once the materials were mixed, liquid animal tallowthat was heated to about 54° C. was sprayed onto the other dispersedingredients and mixed in to prepare the supplement blend. TABLE 5Component Percent Calcium Carbonate 50.7 Urea 34.47 DiCalcium Phosphate7.18 Salt (NaCl) 4.11 Trace Mineral Premix 1.88 MagOx-54 1.65 Total 100

Scoops of the supplement blend were placed in the inlet of the pelletmill at regular intervals to provide a constant flow of the supplementblend into the pellet mill. The pellet mill was a Century® model made byCalifornia Pellet Mill. The die used on the pellet mill had a 40.6 cmoutside diameter, 2040 hole count (10 per row, 204 rows), 12.1 cm widedie face, 167.6 cm outside linear length, 0.4 cm×6.35 cm×1.9 cm variablerelief, and an effective die thickness of 4.4 cm.

About halfway through each run, a sample of the pellets was obtained ina Styrofoam cup and sealed with a lid. A thermocouple was positionedthrough the lid and used to measure the temperature of the pellets. Atthe end of each run, the die temperature was measured using an infraredsensor. The temperature of the pellets and the die are shown in Table 6.

Samples C-D and N-O were prepared according to a similar procedure asdescribed for the other samples. However, for samples C-D, the HMHPS andthe animal tallow were melted together and added as a liquid to the mixof dry materials, and, for samples N-O, the supplement blend was heatedto 54° C. after the liquid animal tallow was added. TABLE 6 Temp Profile(° C.) Supp. blend Pellet Die PHI PDI Fines Sample Amps Temp Temp TempΔT (g/mm) % % A 90-100 21 60.6 65.6 5 189 97.4 9.5 B 90 21 50 57.2 7.298.2 5.0 C 100 21 57.8 67.8 10 189 94.1 1.6 D 80 21 48.9 56.1 7.2 99.122.0 E 100 21 66.1 87.2 21.1 399 90.6 1.8 F 65 21 63.3 66.1 2.8 358 97.44.8 G 80 21 61.1 70.6 9.5 241 94.1 1.1 H 80 21 63.9 70.6 6.7 271 98.42.1 I 80 21 58.3 67.2 8.9 417 98.8 1.0 J 75 21 50.6 51.1 0.5 98.8 9.9 K90 21 50.6 55 4.4 98.0 4.2 L 95 21 52.2 56.7 4.5 98.9 7.8 M 85 21 45.661.7 16.1 98.1 2.7 N 70 21 62.8 90.6 95.9 O 85 21 61.1 70.6 9.5 94.8 9.0P 80 21 65 71.7 6.7 263 95.9 3.3 Q 90 21 62.8 70 7.2 246 94.6 2.1 R 9021 51.7 57.8 6.1 97.4 14.2 S 85 21 51.7 63.9 6.1 95.4 18.1

The samples obtained for each run are shown in Table 6. For each sample,the PHI, PDI, and fines content were measured. The fines content refersto the percentage of material from each sample of the mineral supplementthat passes through a J screen, which has 5/32″ round openings. Thefines content was measured at the die. Also, the difference intemperature between the pelleted mineral supplement (as measured in themid-run sample collected in the Styrofoam cup) and the die wascalculated (ΔT in Table 6). The temperature difference may provide arough indication of whether the die is being unduly heated due tofriction which may cause scoring and/or heat the die above its maximumallowable operating temperature (typically between about 95° C. and 105°C.). The temperature difference between the die and the pelletedmaterial may vary substantially depending on the size and type of thepellet mill used. Also, the maximum allowable operating temperature mayalso vary substantially depending on the pellet mill.

The PHI, PDI, and fines content are parameters which may be used tocharacterize the physical properties of the pellet. In general, it isdesirable to increase the PHI and PDI and decrease the fines content toprovide pellets with desirable physical properties and handlingcharaterisitics.

EXAMPLE 2

A mineral supplement pellet was prepared using substantially the sameprocedure described above for sample A in Example 1. The mineralsupplement pellet had the composition shown in Table 7. TABLE 7 Amount(lbs) Percent % Calcium Carbonate 157.5 45 Urea 87.5 25 Salt (NaCl) 3510 Corn/Coarse Cracked 24.5 7 Animal Fat Blend 21 6 KCl-50 17.5 5Stearic Acid 7 2 Total 350 100

EXAMPLE 3

Mineral supplement pellets can be prepared on a commercial pellet millcapable of producing up to 8-10 tons/hour of pelleted materials usingsubstantially the same procedure described above for sample A inExample 1. For example, such a process can be employed to producepelleted mineral supplements having the compositions shown in Tables 8,9 and 10. TABLE 8 Amount (lbs) Percent % Calcium Carbonate 9,000 45 Urea6,000 30 Dicalcium Phosphate 1,400 7 Salt (NaCl) 800 4 Mg Oxide 400 2Soy Hulls 1,400 7 Animal Fat Blend (Tallow) 600 3 Stearic Acid 400 2Lignin Sulfonate Binder 200 1 Total 20,000 100

TABLE 9 Amount (lbs) Percent % Calcium Carbonate 10,000 50 Urea 5,000 25Dicalcium Phosphate 1,400 7 Salt (NaCl) 1,200 6 Wheat Middlings 1,400 7Animal Fat Blend (Tallow) 600 3 Hydrogenated Soybean Oil 400 2 Total20,000 100

TABLE 10 Amount (lbs) Percent % Calcium Carbonate 9,000 45 Urea 5,000 25Dicalcium Phosphate 1,400 7 Salt (NaCl) 2,000 10 Dried Distillers Grains1,500 7.5 Animal Fat Blend (Tallow) 600 3 Palm Stearin/Stearic Acid 4002 (75/25) Bentonite Binder 100 0.5 Total 20,000 100

EXAMPLE 4

Three tons of supplement blend was prepared using substantially the sameprocedure described above for sample A in Example 1. The supplementblend was passed through a commercial pellet mill capable of producingup to 9 tons/hour of pelleted material. The pelletizer had a 4.4 mm diewith a 2.54 cm effective thickness. The composition of the mineralsupplement that was prepared is shown in Table 11. The PDI for thepellets ranged from about 53 to about 62% and the fines content wasabout 19.5% at the die and about 13.7% at the cooler. TABLE 11 ComponentPercent Calcium Carbonate 43.1 Urea 29.3 DiCalcium & MonoCalcium 6.1Phosphate Salt (NaCl) 3.5 Animal Tallow 3 Stearic Acid 2 Trace MineralPremix 1.6 MagOx-54 1.4 Lignin Sulfonate 0.5 Dye 0.05 Total 100

EXAMPLE 5

Mineral supplement pellets having the compositions shown in Tables 13-16were made according to the following process. Table 12 shows commonranges for some of the more widely used components in the mineralsupplement. The process described in this example may be used to preparemineral supplements having compositions within the range shown in Table12. The process may also be used to prepare mineral supplements having acomposition outside the ranges shown in Table 12.

The mineral supplement is made using commercial feed manufacturingequipment. The equipment is used to mix and pellet the supplement blendto form the pelleted mineral supplement. The mixing process is performedby weighing the desired amounts of the lubricant and the HMHPS. Thesecomponents are weighed on a small platform scale and put into acontainer until later in the mixing process. The bulk ingredients(calcium, urea, salt, etc.) are weighed on a large ingredient scale. Theweighed amounts of the lubricant, HMHPS, and bulk ingredients are thendischarged into a horizontal ribbon mixer where they are mixed. Aftermixing has begun, any liquid ingredients are introduced into the mixerand the total batch is mixed for an additional time period adequate toprovide a homogenous mixture. TABLE 12 Component Exemplary Percent RangeCalcium Carbonate 0-80 Dolomitic Limestone 0-40 Salt 0-20 PotassiumSource 0-15 Magnesium Source 0-15 Ammonium Salts 0-15 Urea 0-50 WheatMidds 0-20 Lubricant 0.5-3   HMHPS (High Melting Hydrophobic 1-3 Substance) Binder 0-3  Total 100

Once a homogenous mixture has been formed, it is discharged from themixer and conveyed to a holding bin above the pelleting equipment. Theblended supplement is conveyed in a controlled fashion to the pelletingequipment using a feeder auger. The feeder auger delivers the blendedsupplement to the conditioner. Steam may be added at the conditioner,but in the present examples, no steam is added. The blended supplementis conveyed through the conditioner to the feed chute, which deliversthe product into the pellet chamber of the pellet mill. In the chamberportion of the pellet mill, the supplement blend is compressed andforced through an orifice. This process forms the pelleted mineralsupplement. A California Pellet Mills brand pellet mill is used in thisprocess.

Upon being discharged from the die of the pellet mill, the pellets dropthrough a spout and into a commercial pellet cooler. The pellet coolersused are California Pellet Mills counterflow coolers, which has ahorizontal bed which holds the pellets discharged from the pellet mills.The design of the coolers allows air to be drawn through the bed ofpellets inside the coolers. The level of the pellets is maintained at afixed level, which allows the pellets to be retained in the cooler untilthey have reached a cooled temperature relatively close to the ambienttemperature of the air being drawn through the cooler. When the level ofthe pellets in the cooler reaches a predetermined level, the pelletcooler discharges for a time until the pellets drop below apredetermined level, then stops discharging. This allows the continuousflow of the pellets from the pellet mill to be retained for a period oftime adequate to remove heat from the pellets that is created throughthe process of pressing the mixture through the metal die, which createsfrictional heat in the pellets.

As the pellets discharge from the cooler, they drop into a hopper belowthe cooler, where they are conveyed to a distributor, which is used toselect which bulk bin the feed is delivered for storage until the feedis ready to be loaded onto trucks for delivery. As the feed drops fromthe discharge point of the bucket elevator through a spout down to thedistributor, a coating agent consisting of very fine calcium ispneumatically blown onto the pellets to coat the pellets with thecalcium which helps prevent the pellets from packing together. Thisallows for improved flowability of the pellets through the loadout binand the product handling facilities. TABLE 13 Component Percent MineralSource (CaCO₃, NaCl, Zn, K, 77.93 trace minerals) Urea 5.00 Wheat Midds11.49 Thiamine Mono 0.08 Lubricant-Choice White Grease 1.00 HydrogenatedVegetable Oil (MP 2.00 about 65 C) Lignin Sulfonate (Ameri-Bond 2X) 2.50Total 100

TABLE 14 Component Percent Mineral Source (CaCO₃, NaCl, Zn, K, 47.15trace minerals) Urea 28.91 Wheat Midds 14.61 Ammonium Sulfate 3.33Lubricant-Choice White Grease 2.00 Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (MP 2.50about 65 C) Lignin Sulfonate (Ameri-Bond 2X) 1.50 Total 100

TABLE 15 Component Percent Mineral Source (CaCO₃, NaCl, Zn, K, 59.49trace minerals) Urea 21.10 Wheat Midds 13.24 Vitamins 0.2 EstrusSuppressor (prevent heifers 0.28 from going into heat) Antibiotic 0.11Lubricant-Choice White Grease 1.00 Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (MP 2.50about 65 C) Lignin Sulfonate (Ameri-Bond 2X) 1.67 Antiprotozoal agent0.41 Total 100

TABLE 16 Component Percent Mineral Source (CaCO₃, NaCl, Zn, K, 75.17trace minerals) Wheat Midds 11.83 Ammonium Sulfate 7.00 Lubricant-ChoiceWhite Grease 2.00 Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil (MP 4.00 about 65 C) Total100

EXAMPLE 6

Mineral supplement pellets having the compositions shown in Table 17were made according to the following process. For each one of samplesT-Z, the amount of supplement blend shown in Table 17 was prepared(e.g., 350 lbs, 280 lbs, etc.). The samples were prepared by placing thebase mix and the other ingredients into a mixer. Each of these materialswas placed in the mixture at ambient temperature and in a solid state.The mixture was mixed using a conventional ribbon blender until thematerials were uniformly dispersed.

The mix was pelleted without steam in the conditioner on a Century®model pellet mill made by California Pellet Mill. The die used on thepellet mill had a 40.6 cm outside diameter, 2040 hole count (10 per row,204 rows), 12.1 cm wide die face, 167.6 cm outside linear length, 0.4cm×6.35 cm×1.9 cm variable relief, and an effective die thickness of 4.4cm. At the end of each run, the die temperature was measured using aninfrared sensor. Tests were also run to determine the PDI and % Breakagefor some of the resulting pellets (N/M in Table 17 means not measured).The results of the tests are shown in Table 17 below. TABLE 17Ingredient Base Mix T U V W X Y Z Urea — 5 — — 15 15 5 5 AmmoniumSulphate — — 7 — — — — — Hydrated Sodium Acetate (e.g., — — — 7 15 15 55 Sodium Acetate Trihydrate) Stearic Acid — 2.5 2.5 2.5 — — — — Sugar —— — — 2 4 2 4 Hydrated CaOH2 — — — — 1 1 1 1 lignin Sulfonate Binder —1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 1.5 Calcium Carbonate 57.35 — — — — — — — WheatMidds 27-34% NDF 14.08 — — — — — — — Salt 11.9 — — — — — — — KCl-5014.29 — — — — — — — Fat Animal Blend 2.38 — — — — — — — Base Mix — 91 8989 65.5 63.5 85.5 83.5 Total 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 100 Run Size,lbs 350 280 290 290 350 350 350 Amps Load 75 110 92 83 78 120 115 DieStart Temp 93 120 139 97 129 135 162 Die End Temp 122 140 144 129 135162 170 Die Friction Δ Temp 29 20 5 32 6 27 8 PDI 99.0 97.0 99.5 N/M N/MN/M N/M Breakage 93.5 92.6 67.9 61.5 72.4 N/M N/M Visual Pellet wellwell well well well well well formed formed formed formed formed formedformed

Illustrative Embodiments

A number of illustrative embodiments of the subject matter describedherein are provided below. The illustrative embodiments should beconsidered as providing only a select number of illustrative examplesmany of which may be expanded or modified in numerous ways to provideadditional embodiments. Accordingly, the illustrative embodiments shouldnot be considered limiting in any way.

In one embodiment, pelleted mineral supplement comprises: at least about70 wt. % of a combination of a mineral source and a non-protein nitrogensource (e.g., urea, ammonium salts, etc.); and a hydrophobic component,which includes high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting pointof least about 55° C. The hydrophobic component may comprise animal fat,vegetable fat, or a mixture thereof. The high melting hydrophobicsubstance may comprise hydrogenated vegetable oil. The high meltinghydrophobic substance may comprise fatty acid material having a meltingpoint of at least about 55° C. The hydrophobic component may have anIodine Value of no more than about 20, or, desirably an Iodine Value ofno more than about 10. The hydrophobic component may have a meltingpoint of at least about 60° C., commonly about 60° C. to 75° C. The highmelting hydrophobic substance supplement may include saturated fattyacids having 14 to 20 carbon atoms. The high melting hydrophobicsubstance may include saturated fatty acid, vegetable wax, high meltingtriglyceride (mp≧60° C.), zinc fatty acid salt or a mixture thereof. Themineral supplement may include at least about 2 wt. % of the hydrophobiccomponent. The mineral supplement may include no more than about 15 wt.% of the hydrophobic component. The mineral supplement may include about3 to 10 wt. % of the hydrophobic component. The hydrophobic componentmay include tallow. The hydrophobic component may includes at leastabout 1 wt. % hydrogenated vegetable oil having a melting point of atleast about 60° C. The mineral supplement may have a PDI of at leastabout 90%. The mineral supplement may have a fines content of no morethan about 15 wt. %. The mineral supplement may have a PDI of at leastabout 50%, commonly at about 60%. The mineral source/non-proteinnitrogen source combination may includes at least about 50 wt. % of themineral source based on total combination weight. The mineral source maycomprise a calcium source and salt {NaCl}. The mineral supplement maycomprise about 40 to 70 wt. % of the mineral source, about 10 to 50 wt.% non-protein nitrogen source; and about 3 to 10 wt. % of thehydrophobic component. The mineral source may comprise at least one of acalcium source, a sodium salt, a potassium salt, a phosphate source, asulfur source, and a magnesium source. The mineral source may furthercomprise at least one of an iron source, a copper source, a cobaltsource, a manganese source, a zinc source, and a selenium source. Themineral supplement may further comprise a binder. The binder maycomprise bentonite, gum, lignin sulfonate, sodium silicate, attapulgiteclay, calcium aluminates, or a mixture thereof. The mineral supplementmay further comprise a filler. The filler may comprise wheat middlings,soy hulls, corn gluten meal, dried distillers grains, ground grains(e.g., corn, wheat, milo) or a mixture thereof. The filler may comprisecotyledon fiber, hull fiber, root vegetable fiber, bran fiber or acombination thereof. The filler may comprise wheat middlings, oilseedhull material, oilseed meal or a combination thereof. The mineralsupplement may further comprise one or more vitamins, antibiotics, aminoacids or a mixture thereof. An animal feed may comprise the pelletedmineral supplement.

According to another embodiment, a method of producing a pelletedmineral supplement comprises: forming a supplement blend including aningredient component, which includes non-protein nitrogen source and atleast about 50 wt. % mineral source based on total ingredient componentweight; and a hydrophobic component, which includes a high meltinghydrophobic substance having a melting point of least about 55° C.;forcing the supplement blend through an orifice to form a compressedblend; and dividing the compressed blend into segments. The method mayfurther comprise drying the segments to provide dried segments. Thesupplement blend may comprise at least about 3 wt. % of the high meltinghydrophobic substance fatty acid material; and at least about 70 wt. %of the ingredient component. The orifice may have a diameter of about 1to 10 mm, commonly about 3 to 8 mm. The supplement blend may have amoisture content of no more than about 3 wt. %. The forcing step maycomprise forcing the supplement blend through the orifice such that theorifice has a temperature of no more than 90° C. The supplement blendmay have the composition of the mineral supplement explained in thepreceding paragraph. The mineral supplement segments may have an averageweight of about 250 to 500 mg or 325 to 425 mg. The supplement blend maycomprise about 40 to 70 wt. % of the mineral source, about 10 to 50 wt.% non-protein nitrogen source; and about 3 to 10 wt. % of thehydrophobic component. The supplement blend may comprise at least about70 wt. % of a combination of the non-protein nitrogen source and themineral source. The high melting hydrophobic substance may comprisehydrogenated vegetable oil, saturated fatty acid, vegetable wax, zincfatty acid salt or a mixture thereof. A pelleted mineral supplement maybe produced by this method.

According to another embodiment, a pelleted mineral supplementcomprises: at least about 70 wt. % of an ingredient component, whichincludes non-protein nitrogen source and at least about 50 wt. % of amineral source based on total ingredient component weight; and ahydrophobic component, which includes fatty acid material having amelting point of at least about 50° C. The fatty acid material mayinclude stearic acid, palmitic acid or a mixture thereof. The ingredientcomponent may comprise at least about 10 wt. % non-protein nitrogensource based on total ingredient component weight. According to anotherembodiment, a pelleted mineral supplement comprises: at least about 70wt. % of the combination of non-protein nitrogen source and a mineralsource; and at least about 1 wt. % of a high melting hydrophobicsubstance having a melting point of least about 60° C. The mineralsupplement may comprise at least about 80 wt. % of the mineralsource/non-protein nitrogen source combination. The mineral supplementmay comprise about 3 to 10 wt. % of a hydrophobic component, whichincludes the high melting hydrophobic substance. The mineral supplementmay comprise at least about 1 wt. % fatty acid material having a meltingpoint of least about 60° C. The mineral supplement may comprise at leastabout 1 wt. % hydrogenated vegetable oil having a melting point of atleast about 60° C. The mineral supplement may comprise at least about 1wt. % hydrogenated triglyceride material having a melting point of atleast about 60° C. The hydrogenated triglyceride material may bepartially hydrogenated triglyceride material. The hydrogenatedtriglyceride material may be fully hydrogenated triglyceride material.The hydrogenated triglyceride material may be hydrogenated oilseed oilmaterial. The hydrogenated triglyceride material may be hydrogenatedsoybean oil, hydrogenated cottonseed oil, hydrogenated sunflower oil,hydrogenated palm oil, hydrogenated corn oil, or a mixture thereof. Themineral supplement may comprise a hydrophobic component, which includesthe high melting hydrophobic substance. The hydrophobic component mayfurther comprise tallow. The hydrophobic component may further comprisea partially hydrogenated vegetable oil, which has a melting point of nomore than about 50° C., commonly 40-50° C. The mineral source maycomprise at least one of a calcium source, a phosphate source and salt{NaCl}. The mineral source may comprise at least one of a calciumsource, potassium source, or phosphorous source. The high meltinghydrophobic substance may comprise saturated fatty acid having 14 to 22carbon atoms. The high melting hydrophobic substance may comprisestearic acid, palmitic acid or a mixture thereof. The mineral supplementmay comprise no more than about 15 wt. % of the hydrophobic component.The mineral supplement may comprise about 1 wt. % to 5 wt. % of the highmelting hydrophobic substance. The hydrophobic component may include atriglyceride material having a melting point of about 40° C. to 50° C.The high melting hydrophobic substance may comprise fatty acid materialhaving a melting point of at least about 60° C. The mineral supplementmay further comprise a binder. The mineral supplement may furthercomprise one or more vitamins, medicaments, enzymes or a combinationthereof. The mineral supplement may comprise a filler. The mineralsupplement may have a PDI of at least about 90%. The mineral supplementmay have a PDI of at least about 50%, commonly at least about 60%. Themineral supplement may have a fines content of no more than about 15 wt.%.

According to another embodiment, a pelleted mineral supplementcomprises: at least about 75 wt. % of a combination of non-proteinnitrogen source and a mineral source; at least about 0.5 wt. % of a highmelting hydrophobic substance having a melting point of least about 60°C.; and a triglyceride material having a melting point of about 40° C.to 50° C. The mineral supplement may comprise no more than about 10 wt.% of the triglyceride material. The mineral supplement may compriseabout 1 to 5 wt. % of the high melting hydrophobic substance lipidcomponent. The triglyceride material may comprise animal fat, vegetablefat, or a mixture thereof.

According to another embodiment, a mineral supplement prepared by theprocess comprising: pelleting a combination of components which includesat least about 50 wt. % of a combination of non-protein nitrogen sourceand a mineral source; and at least about 2 wt. % of a hydrophobiccomponent, which includes a high melting hydrophobic substance; whereinthe pelleting operation is conducted without exposing the components tosteam.

According to another embodiment, a pelleted mineral supplementcomprises: at least about 50 wt. % of a combination of non-proteinnitrogen source and a mineral source; and at least about 2 wt. % of ahydrophobic component having a melting point of at least about 55° C.The mineral supplement may comprise at least about 75 wt. % of themineral source/non-protein nitrogen source combination. The mineralsupplement may comprise about 80 to 90 wt. % of the mineralsource/non-protein nitrogen source combination; and about 3 to 10 wt. %of the hydrophobic component. The hydrophobic component may have amelting point of at least about 60° C. The hydrophobic component maycomprise saturated fatty acid having 14 to 22 carbon atoms; vegetablewax; fully hydrogenated vegetable oil; or a mixture thereof. Thehydrophobic component may comprise partially fractionated palm oil. Thehydrophobic component may comprises hydrogenated soybean oil. Thehydrophobic component may comprise stearic acid, palmitic acid or amixture thereof. The hydrophobic component may comprise zinc stearate,zinc palmitate or a mixture thereof.

According to another embodiment, a mineral supplement comprises: atleast about 75 wt. % of a combination of non-protein nitrogen source anda mineral source; and at least about 3 wt. % a hydrophobic componenthaving a melting point of least about 55° C. The hydrophobic componentmay include a high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting pointof least about 60° C. The high melting hydrophobic substance may includesaturated fatty acid, vegetable wax, high melting triglyceride (mp≧60°C.), zinc fatty acid salt or a mixture thereof. The mineral supplementmay comprise about 40 to 70 wt. % of the mineral source, about 10 to 50wt. % non-protein nitrogen source; and about 3 to 10 wt. % of thehydrophobic component. The hydrophobic component may further comprise atriglyceride material, which has a melting point of about 40° C. to 50°C. The pelleted mineral supplement may have a PDI of at least about 85%.The pelleted mineral supplement may have a fines content of no more thanabout 15 wt. %. The pelleted mineral supplement may have a PDI of atleast about 50%, commonly at least about 60%.

According to another embodiment, an animal feed comprises: bulk feed;and the mineral supplement of any of the preceding illustrativeembodiments.

According to another embodiment, a pelleted mineral supplementcomprises: at least about 70 wt. % of a combination of a mineral sourceand a non-protein nitrogen source; and a hydrophobic component, whichincludes a high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting point ofleast about 55° C. The non-protein nitrogen source comprises urea.

The terms recited in the claims should be given their ordinary andcustomary meaning as determined by reference to relevant entries (e.g.,definition of “plane” as a carpenter's tool would not be relevant to theuse of the term “plane” when used to refer to an airplane, etc.) indictionaries (e.g., common use and/or technical dictionaries), commonlyunderstood meanings by those in the art, etc., with the understandingthat the broadest meaning imparted by any one or combination of thesesources should be given to the claim terms (e.g., two or more relevantdictionary entries should be combined to provide the broadest meaning ofthe combination of entries, etc.) subject only to the followingexceptions: (a) if a term is used herein in a manner more expansive thanits ordinary and customary meaning, the term should be given itsordinary and customary meaning plus the additional expansive meaning, or(b) if a term has been explicitly defined to have a different meaning byreciting the term followed by the phase “as used herein shall mean” orsimilar language (e.g., “herein this term means,” “as defined herein,”“for the purposes of this disclosure [the term] shall mean,” etc.).References to specific examples, use of “i.e.,” use of the word“invention,” etc., are not meant to invoke exception (b) or otherwiserestrict the scope of the recited claim terms. Accordingly, the claimsare not tied and should not be interpreted to be tied to any particularembodiment, feature, or combination of features other than thoseexplicitly recited in the claims, even if only a single embodiment ofthe particular feature or combination of features is illustrated anddescribed herein. Thus, the appended claims should be read to be giventheir broadest interpretation in view of the prior art and the ordinarymeaning of the claim terms.

As used herein, spatial or directional terms, such as “left,” “right,”“front,” “back,” and the like, relate to the subject matter as it isshown in the drawing Figures. However, it is to be understood that thesubject matter described herein may assume various alternativeorientations and, accordingly, such terms are not to be considered aslimiting. Furthermore, as used herein (i.e., in the claims and thespecification), articles such as “the,” “a,” and “an” can connote thesingular or plural. Also, as used herein, the word “or” when usedwithout a preceding “either” (or other similar language indicating that“or” is unequivocally meant to be exclusive—e.g., only one of x or y,etc.) shall be interpreted to be inclusive (e.g., “x or y” means one orboth x or y). Likewise, as used herein, the term “and/or” shall also beinterpreted to be inclusive (e.g., “x and/or y” means one or both x ory). In situations where “and/or” or “or” are used as a conjunction for agroup of three or more items, the group should be interpreted to includeone item alone, all of the items together, or any combination or numberof the items. Moreover, terms used in the specification and claims suchas have, having, include, and including should be construed to besynonymous with the terms comprise and comprising.

Unless otherwise indicated, all numbers or expressions, such as thoseexpressing dimensions, physical characteristics, etc. used in thespecification are understood as modified in all instances by the term“about.” At the very least, and not as an attempt to limit theapplication of the doctrine of equivalents to the claims, each numericalparameter recited in the specification or claims which is modified bythe term “about” should at least be construed in light of the number ofrecited significant digits and by applying ordinary rounding techniques.Moreover, all ranges disclosed herein are to be understood to encompassany and all subranges subsumed therein. For example, a stated range of 1to 10 should be considered to include any and all subranges between andinclusive of the minimum value of 1 and the maximum value of 10; thatis, all subranges beginning with a minimum value of 1 or more and endingwith a maximum value of 10 or less (e.g., 5.5 to 10).

1. A pelleted mineral supplement comprising: at least about 50 wt. % of a combination of a mineral source and a non-protein nitrogen source; and a hydrophobic component having a melting point of at least about 45° C.
 2. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the non-protein nitrogen source comprises urea.
 3. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the mineral supplement comprises at least about 2 wt. % of the non-protein nitrogen source.
 4. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the mineral supplement comprises at least about 70 wt. % of the combination of the mineral source and the non-protein nitrogen source.
 5. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobic component has a melting point of at least about 55° C.
 6. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the hydrophobic component includes hydrogenated vegetable oil, animal fat, or a mixture thereof.
 7. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the mineral supplement includes at least about 2 wt. % of the hydrophobic component.
 8. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the mineral source comprises a calcium source and sodium chloride.
 9. The mineral supplement of claim 1 wherein the mineral supplement comprises about 30 to 85 wt. % of the mineral source, about 2 to 50 wt. % of the non-protein nitrogen source, and about 2 to 10 wt. % of the hydrophobic component.
 10. The mineral supplement of claim 1 comprising at least about 0.5 wt. % of a high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting point of at least about 55° C.
 11. The mineral supplement of claim 10 wherein the high melting hydrophobic substance has a melting point of at least about 60° C.
 12. The mineral supplement of claim 10 wherein the high melting hydrophobic substance includes hydrogenated vegetable oil, saturated fatty acid, or a mixture thereof.
 13. The mineral supplement of claim 1 further comprising a filler in an amount no more than about 20 wt. %.
 14. A pelleted mineral supplement comprising: at least about 50 wt. % of a combination of a mineral source and urea; and a hydrophobic component.
 15. The mineral supplement of claim 14 wherein the mineral supplement comprises at least about 2 wt. % urea.
 16. The mineral supplement of claim 14 wherein the mineral supplement comprises at least about 70 wt. % of the mineral source and urea combination.
 17. The mineral supplement of claim 14 wherein the hydrophobic component includes a high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting point of at least about 55° C.
 18. The mineral supplement of claim 14 wherein the mineral supplement includes about 1 to 10 wt. % of the hydrophobic component.
 19. A method of producing a pelleted mineral supplement comprising: forming a supplement blend including a hydrophobic component and at least about 50 wt. % of a combination of a mineral source and a non-protein nitrogen source; wherein the hydrophobic component includes a high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting point of at least about 55° C.; and forcing the supplement blend through an orifice to form a compressed blend.
 20. The method of claim 19 comprising dividing the compressed blend into segments.
 21. The method of claim 19 wherein the supplement blend comprises at least about 0.5 wt. % of the high melting hydrophobic substance and at least about 70 wt. % of the combination of the mineral source and the non-protein nitrogen source.
 22. A pelleted mineral supplement comprising: at least about 50 wt. % of a combination of a mineral source and optionally a non-protein nitrogen source; and at least about 0.5 wt. % of a high melting hydrophobic substance having a melting point of at least about 55° C.
 23. The mineral supplement of claim 22 wherein the mineral supplement comprises at least about 70 wt. % of the mineral source and optional non-protein nitrogen source combination.
 24. The mineral supplement of claim 22 wherein the high melting hydrophobic substance has a melting point of at least about 60° C.
 25. The mineral supplement of claim 22 wherein the mineral supplement comprises about 2 to 10 wt. % of a hydrophobic component, the hydrophobic component including a lubricant and the high melting hydrophobic substance.
 26. The mineral supplement of claim 22 wherein the mineral supplement comprises about 1 to 5 wt. % of a high melting hydrophobic substance.
 27. The mineral supplement of claim 22 further comprising the non-protein nitrogen source, wherein the non-protein nitrogen source comprises urea, an inorganic ammonium salt, or a mixture thereof.
 28. The mineral supplement of claim 22 further comprising the non-protein nitrogen source, wherein the non-protein nitrogen source comprises urea, uric acid, biuret, an ammonium salt, or a mixture thereof.
 29. The mineral supplement of claim 22 further comprising sugar.
 30. The mineral supplement of claim 22 further comprising sodium acetate trihydrate. 